


Teaching Him

by Vixen_Blue



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-03-19 07:22:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 19,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13699671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vixen_Blue/pseuds/Vixen_Blue
Summary: Rachel's just an ordinary 23 year-old. Shes never been thought of as stupid but she's no genius. What happens when she meets Dr. Reid? Can she show him that sometimes the most simple things in life can be the best?





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story in 2014, and posted the first half of it on fanfiction.net at the time. It been hanging around my computer so i figured why not just post it here and finish it off. Don't judge too harshly, my writing has (hopefully) improved a lot since then.

"Sorry I'm late," the brunette muttered, rushing in behind the counter of the bar she regularly worked at.

Her boss gave her a disapproving look, but chose not to say anything. Despite her regular lateness she certainly was one of his better bartenders. Her bubbly personality and charming nature tended to attract the men, willing them to buy more drinks.

She pulled her messy of curly hair up into a high ponytail, slipping on the small black apron she had to wear. Why she was made wear it, she didn't know, but she had always had to.

The next two hours passed by reasonably quickly. She always found it wasn't much work bartending. She enjoyed chatting to the often tipsy customers, often flirting with the fitter men.

It was nearing half eleven when someone plopped down on the stool just over the counter alone. She glanced up quickly, instantly meeting his warm brown eyes.

Her eyes scanned him quickly and she felt a smile tug at her lips.

He was wearing a white shirt with a dark red cardigan over it. His black tie suited the outfit perfectly, giving him a cute, yet somewhat geeky look.

His hair was cut short at the sides and longer on top, looking incredibly fluffy.

"Hi" her voice came out soft, smiling slightly.

He gave her a shy smile in return.

"Hello" he looked back down at his hands as he spoke.

Her smile widened, amused at how awkward he seemed.

"You here alone?" she decided to ask, still smiling.

He nodded, slowly looking up to meet her eye.

"Yeah. I -erm- had a rough day at work," he explained.

"I see.. So what can I get you?" she asked, realising what he was here for

"Scotch, please," he replied.

She was a little surprised at this. Scotch certainly didn't seem like his kind of drink but she shrugged it off.

"So, this job of yours..?" she asked softly, handing him his drink.

He met her eye once again.

"Oh. I'm an FBI agent," he told her, before taking a small sip of his drink.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. She was unsure of whether or not to believe him. She had heard that line on several occasions. Usually men trying to take her home.

"Really?" her voice was doubtful, something he obviously picked up on, cause he smiled slightly.

"Yes. I'm a profiler. I work in the BAU," he explained slowly.

"BAU?"

"Behaviour Analysis Unit," he told her.

She nodded, still not fully sure what that was.

"Oh.. I see," she lied quickly.

He smirked a little, easily catching on to the fact that she had no idea what he meant.

"So profiling. That's kinda like knowing what people are thinking, right?" she asked, sure that it was a stupid question.

He chuckled softly then, and she grinned at his laugh. It seemed everything he did drew her to him.

"I guess you could say that," he shrugged a little.

Some one else called her then, pulling her away from the fascinating man she still didn't know the name of.

She didn't try to strike up a conversation with the customer. Once she had handed them their drink, she turned back to the FBI agent who wasn't even halfway through his drink.

"I hope you don't mind me saying, but you really do look quite young to be in the FBI," she started, leaning on the counter slightly with her hands.

"I get that a lot," he replied.

He seemed to be debating whether or not he'd continue. He decided on further explaining.

"I graduated high school when I was twelve," he admitted softly.

She felt her jaw drop.

"What?" she finally managed to mumble.

He shrugged, his cheeks reddening a little.

"That's amazing. You must be some sort of genius," she continued.

Again he just shrugged, which she took as confirmation.

He seemed a little awkward talking about it so she quickly changed the subject.

"I just realised I didn't even introduce myself.. I'm Rachel. Rachel Evans," she offered him her hand, with a small smile.

He took her hand carefully and she was instantly impressed at how soft his was.

"Spencer. Spencer Reid,"


	2. Chapter Two

"Spencer. Nice name," she commented, as their hands parted.

For some reason she found herself missing the contact of his skin on hers.

"Thank you," he replied, taking another sip of his small drink.

"Your not much of a talker, are you?" she continued, sensing he was being very withdrawn.

He smiled a little.

"Funny, that's the opposite of what everyone else says," he told her honestly.

She frowned slightly.

"Oh. Well I guess it's just me," she shrugged.

"I guess I just know them better," he explained quickly, not wanting to offend her.

She shrugged.

"You know my team-"

"Your team?" she cut him off quickly, quirking an eyebrow.

"You play sport?" she added.

She couldn't really picture him playing football or hockey or anything.. Maybe baseball? That could suit him.

However when he laughed again, she knew she was wrong.

"No, no. I don't play sports," he told her quickly.

She nodded.

"So by team you meant..?" she trailed off, curious.

"At the BAU. The people I work with. The team," he shrugged, hoping she'd understand.

"Team. That's cute," she grinned a little.

He smiled too.

"Cute?" he questioned, wrinkling his noise slightly.

She giggled at that.

"Yes. Very cute," she shrugged.

"As I was saying," he continued as if she had never interrupted him with the whole 'team' query.

She nodded, indicating he should continue.

"My team, I annoy them all the time by talking too much," he admitted.

Her eyes narrowed

"I find that somewhat hard to believe," she countered honestly.

He shrugged.

"Well look, my shift ends in like 20 minutes so why don't we hang out for a bit and I'll see if I can find this talker you claim to be," she suggested, realising that she'd soon have to leave.

For some reason she really didn't like the thought of never seeing him again. She was very much enjoying chatting to him. He wasn't like any guy she had ever met before and she liked that.

He furrowed his brow slightly , a bit taken aback by the invitation.

"Hang out?" he asked slowly.

She nodded, tucking a piece of hair that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear.

"Yeah. Hang out, as in spend time together," she explained, with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes.

"I know what it means. I just.. Yeah. Yeah, okay.. Sounds good," he gave her a small smile which she returned with her wide one.

"Perfect," she nodded.

The next 20 minutes passed by quickly enough, despite the fact that she didn't get much of a chance to talk to Spencer anymore. Other customers demanded her attention so she was glad when her boss told her she could leave.

"I'll see you the day after tomorrow," She gave him a smile, slipping her apron off and handing it to him.

He nodded slowly.

"So.. you ready to go?" she asked Spencer once she was standing next to him.

He looked up, nodding.

"Sure. What do you wanna do?" he mumbled as he stood up, heading out of the bar alongside her.

"I don't know. Maybe get a pizza?" She suggested with a shrug.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again don't judge! Remember these chapters were written a looong time ago, I'm honestly just too lazy to revise and rewrite them,

"A pizza?" he asked, slightly amused.

She shrugged.

"I'm starving. I need food," she replied honestly.

He smiled then with a slight nod.

"Okay, I guess a pizza sounds good," he told her softly.

There was a small pizzeria around the corner from the bar, which they walked to within a few minutes.

Because the place was so eerily quiet, Rachel decided on ordering the pizza to-go.

"Where exactly are you planning on eating this pizza?" Spencer asked her curiously as they waited.

She shrugged.

"My apartment I guess.. Its only a ten minute walk from here," she told him.

"Your apartment?" he repeated.

She raised one of her finely plucked eyebrows.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" she asked him, only half teasing.

He seemed somewhat reluctant which was unusual for her.

Apparently he understood her worry, because he quickly shook his head.

"Of course not. This just doesn't happen to me often and-" he started but once again she cut him off.

"This? And what exactly is this?" she interrupted quickly, a small smirk playing at her lips.

She saw a slight pink tinge creeping up on his cheeks, yet he continued anyways.

"Meeting beautiful women at bars. It's definitely not something I'm used to," he launched into an explanation.

"And I suppose it took me by surprise really that you wanted to hang out afterwards," he finished with a shrug.

She couldn't help but smile at that.

"You're too adorable, Spencer Reid," she chuckled slightly at his confused expression.

When at last the pizza was ready, Rachel started leading the way back to her apartment.

"So how long have you lived in Woodbridge?" he was the one to start the conversation this time.

"About a year now," she replied honestly.

"Where did you live before you moved here?" he continued.

She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was a little worried about maybe being too nosey, but she really didn't mind.

"Well I lived in DC for a couple months before I moved here but I'm originally from Ireland," she told him.

He nodded, but for some reason she got the idea he had already known this. Probably because of her accent.

"You know it's estimated that over 80 million people of Irish descent live outside Ireland, in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa and states of the Caribbean and continental Europe. That's 14 times more than the population of Ireland." he spoke quickly, fluently, as if he was quoting some passage.

Her eyes widened slightly at that.

"Now that, I didn't know," she replied honestly.

"The Irish are very interesting, I always feel they're somewhat underrated" he continued on. "Halloween traces back its origins to the Gaelic festival of Samhain, a harvest festival held on 31 October to mark the end of summer. Samhain became associated with All Saints from the early Middle Ages and the two progressively merged over the centuries, creating Halloween,"

"Oh my god Spencer!" She half yelled.

"What?" he seemed startled at her reaction.

"How on earth do you know that?" she questioned.

He shrugged slightly.

"I read it somewhere," he told her honestly.

"It sounds like you quoted it word for word from Wikipedia," she mumbled more to herself than him.

She was going to press the issue but they rounded the corner then to her apartment building.

"This is me," she announced, indicating to the large building.

He followed quickly as she wandered inside the building, starting to climb he stairs.

After four flights of stairs she finally walked along the hall to the door numbered '32'.

She pulled her key out of her pocket quickly, shoving it into the lock.

And turning the key, she slipped the door open.


	4. Chapter Four

"Welcome to my humble abode!" she announced, once they had walked through the door, flinging her keys into the little bowl on the coffee table, just inside.

"Its nice," he replied politely.

She shrugged slightly.

"Its pretty small, I know. But its comfortable.. Affordable," she explained, making her way to the couch in the living room.

He followed a little awkwardly, sitting down next to her slowly.

She kicked her shoes off, crossing her legs on the couch carelessly.

"Make yourself at home," she mumbled, opening the pizza box.

He glanced around the small living room, something on the wall instantly catching his eyes.

"What is that?" he mumbled, more to himself than to her, automatically standing up off of the couch to go examine it.

She had to swallow the pizza she had in her mouth before answering him.

"Postcards.. I always buy one every time I go on holiday.. I stick them up on the notice board to keep them all together," she told him honestly.

He ran a hand along the postcards.

"You travel a lot," he murmured, softly.

She nodded.

"I love travelling. That's why I have a small place. And why I work at the bar. Its not cheap," she explained to him.

"You don't travel much?" she added.

He turned back to face her, shaking his head.

"I'm not really the sort," he shrugged.

"You never know. You might surprise yourself and enjoy it.." she took another mouthful of pizza.

"So if you work at the bar to earn extra money, what is your day job?" he asked, coming back to sit down next to her.

She offered him the pizza box and he took a slice quickly.

"Well I'm a sign language interpreter. I'm currently working with a college student who attends George Washington University, I basically just go to her lectures with her and translate, basically.." she explained.

He smiled at that.

"Really? That sounds pretty interesting" his voice was completely honest.

She rolled her eyes at that.

"Not as interesting as the FBI!" she argued quickly.

He shrugged.

"So do you like catch serial killers?" she asked, again instantly noticing how stupid she sounded.

However, he smiled at her, making her feel a lot better.

"Yeah. Sexual predators and abductors also, but yes, we focus mainly on serial killers," he replied.

"I really don't understand then how you don't meet girls at bars much. An FBI agent - that's seriously hot," she was blatantly honest.

A blush crept up on his cheeks and he looked down quickly in embarrassment.

He cleared his throat before talking.

"Well I don't really go to bars much to be honest," he told, trying to regain his composure.

She overlooked him embarrassment, finding it adorable.

"So you don't travel. You don't go to bars.. I'm curious Spencer, what is it you do for fun?" she asked, wanting to find out more about him.

He shrugged.

"Well with the job I guess I don't really get much free time.. Just reading," he mumbled.

Her eyes widened slightly.

"Reading?" she was a little surprised.

He nodded.

"Oh honey.. " she giggled slightly.

"What?" he asked, a little unsure of what she found amusing.

"We really are very different people Spence," she passed him another slice of pizza.

He frowned a little, still unsure as to why she had laughed.

"Okay, you know what - this Friday I'm taking you out and showing you how to have fun," she told him, not even bothering to put a question in there.

He shrugged.

"Fine," he murmured.

"Great," she replied with a wide smile.

She was determined to show the very unique FBI agent what it really meant to live.

After that Spencer decided it was time for him to leave, knowing he had work early the next morning.

"Here, before you go," Rachel caught hold of his wrist as he made his way towards the door, twisting his arm over so that she could write her number on it.

"Call me, okay? We'll sort out Friday," she explained.

He nodded, glancing down at his arm and back up at her.

"Okay," his voice came out softer than he had hoped.

"Okay," she replied.

And with that he left, leaving her feeling quite pleased with how the night had gone.


	5. Chapter Five

Spencer Reid walked into the FBI the next morning, feeling confused but pleased at what had happened the night before.

He sat down at his desk quietly, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt ever so slightly. Even though he had had a shower, there was still a slight trace of the numbers Rachel had written.

Of course he already knew the number off by heart. One glance at it and it was permanently lodged in his brain. Still, he liked looking at it. It reminded him that last night had actually happened- he hadn't just imagined the whole thing.

"What's that kid?"

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't even realised his co worker Derek Morgan was now beside him.

"Nothing, nothing," he mumbled, quickly shoving his shirt back down to his wrist.

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"C'mon Reid, show me what's on your arm," he was getting little curious now.

Spencer shook his head.

"It's nothing.." he muttered again, but the way he kept glancing at his hands made it very unconvincing.

"Reid-" Morgan was about to start arguing again but fortunately for Reid, was interrupted.

"We got a case," JJ announced, causing him to hop up off of his seat.

"This isn't over Reid," Morgan told him as he followed behind him.

Rachel-Jane Evans walked through the door of her apartment after work, in high spirits.

Thursdays were one of her favourite days of the week.

She genuinely loved her job and on Thursdays she went to yoga classes afterwards with some of her friends.

She got changed into something more suitable and tied her hair up into a ponytail.

Her friend Lily was coming to pick her up for the yoga class so she just had to wait around.

She decided on just playing flappy bird, while she waited. It had never been a game she was good at, especially when it had been really popular. She was lucky she had downloaded it though, before it had been removed from the app store.

It took her four tries, but she was finally coming near her high score. Only a few more and she would beat it.

Just as she was about to pass out her high score, her phone started vibrating scaring her so much that she nearly dropped it.

She narrowed her eyes slightly at the number. She had never seen it before.

Whoever it was, it was their fault she had just lost.

Clicking answer she prepared herself to give out to whoever it was for ruining her chance at beating her highscore.

"Hello?" she answered curiously.

"Rachel?" the voice took her by surprise.

"Spencer! Hey!" her annoyance had faded as quickly as it had arrived.

"Hi, I - em hope now's not a bad time or anything, I mean I could always ring back-" he began rambling.

"Now's fine! What's up?" she replied chirpily.

"Well we're on a case in California right now. I don't know if I'm gonna be back in time to do anything on Friday," he told her honestly.

She felt a little disappointed at that but just shrugged it off.

"That's fine. Its your job. Maybe another time?" she suggested, trying to keep her voice as light as possible.

"Yeah.. Of course. I really am so sorry," he replied, sensing her disappointment.

"It really is okay Spencer. I understand. Why don't you just let me know when your back and we'll do something then?" she continued.

"I'd like that. Hey, I've to go, my boss is coming. I'll talk to you later," he mumbled quickly, and with that the phone line went dead.

She was surprised at the abrupt ending to the conversation.

Before she had a chance to dwell on it however, there was a knock on the door, distracting her.

She went to answer it, and wasn't surprised to find her friend Lily in the doorway, already kitted out in her yoga gear.

She stepped over the doorway, not bothering to invite Lily in.

"Let's get going,"


	6. Chapter Six

The next two days passed by incredibly slowly for Rachel. Spencer hadn't made any contact with her at all. She knew he was more than likely extremely busy with work, but it still wasn't something she was use to.

For Spencer the days passed just as slowly. It was an extremely tough involving two child murders. Thankfully they caught the unsub while he was still holding the third child captive.

It was eight o' clock Saturday evening when they finally arrived back at the BAU headquarters. Once he was back in his familiar desk chair, he slipped his phone out of his pocket.

He dialled her number quickly wanting to hear her voice. It had only been two days but he couldn't manage to conjure it up in his head.

She answered on the third ring.

"Spencer!" she exclaimed.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked, baffled. He hadn't even gotten a chance to say anything yet.

"I'm psychic," she replied, her voice so serious that he was momentarily stumped.

"What?" he mumbled.

Her tinkling laugh came through the phone, making him smile involuntarily.

"Caller ID Spencer," she chuckled.

"And you're meant to be the smart one," she added, her voice teasing.

He felt his cheeks heat up slightly at his stupidity. Luckily she couldn't see him.

"So what's up?" she asked airily, her voice still somewhat amused.

He cleared his throat awkwardly before responding.

"We - em - we just got back from California. I was just wondering what you were doing.." His voice trailed off awkwardly and he felt his blush deepen.

Why was he so nervous? He really couldn't understand it.

"Well actually, I do have plans this evening," she began.

He sighed, feeling disappointment and embarrassment flood him.

"Oh right. I completely understand-" he started mumbling but she cut him off quickly.

"You could come with me though?" She suggested.

"What exactly are you doing?" he asked back, softly.

He could hear the smile in her voice when she replied.

"You'll see Spencer. Trust me, you'll enjoy it. Just meet me at the Smoke Pit Café in Stafford in like twenty minutes, okay?" Although she asked, he knew it wasn't really a question.

"Sure" he agreed quickly, not bothering to ask what they were doing.

"Great! I'll see you then," she was so enthusiastic about it that he couldn't help but smile again.

The phone went dead, leaving him shuffling around with his things, trying to get ready to leave.

"Reid?"

He glanced up to the sound of his name quickly, to see the blonde-haired technical analysis Penelope Garcia standing next to Morgan.

"Hi," he mumbled back, shoving his phone in his pocket and standing up from his chair.

"Do you wanna grab some burgers with us? You see theres this little place I found last week and they do the absolute best burgers ever, but Morgan here thinks-" she began rambling but he cut her off quickly.

"I'm really sorry guys, maybe some other time. Right now I gotta get going," he mumbled, before glancing back down to check he had everything.

"Bye. Enjoy the burgers," he added, and with that he turned and walked off, leaving both Morgan and Garcia curious as to where the hell he was in such a rush to get to.

Rachel sat on the windowsill outside the Smoke Pit Café waiting. She had her guitar case leaning against her knees and she was rubbing her hands together to prevent them from getting too cold.

She was there less than five minutes when Spencer hopped out of a cab right in front of her.

"Hello," she smiled warmly once he noticed her.

"Hi. I guess we aren't going into the café," he smiled in response, nodding to the café behind her with the large 'Closed' sign in the window.

She shook her head.

"Nah. We're going to the hospital, right across the street," she told him.

He frowned at that.

"The hospital? Why? Are you okay?" he asked, a little startled.

She chuckled, running a hand through her hair. She had left it down this time, and it was it's usual messy curls. Her clothes weren't anything too fancy. Just a pair of denim jeans and red checked shirt over a vest-top. She was delighted when he had called. She had found herself longing to see him again.

"Of course. I'm fine Spencer," she replied, standing up, slinging the guitar case across her back.

"Then why the hospital?" he asked again.

She grinned.

"You'll see," she replied casually, heading for the road.

He followed her cautiously across the road and to the hospital.

"Rachel, I'm not so sure you're allowed to just head into a hospital.. You kinda have to be a patient," he mumbled, as she pushed the door open, walking in.

She rolled her eyes at the comment.

"Trust me Spence.. I know what I'm doing," she told him softly.

His brow furrowed at that slightly.

"You know only one other person ever calls me that," he mumbled.

Now that interested her.

"Really? Who?" she asked curiously.

"JJ," he replied softly.

"JJ?"

"Jennifer Jareau. She's a co-worker," he explained.

"Ooh. Jennifer. Should I be worried?" she teased, raising an eyebrow.

He frowned in confusion.

"Worried?" he repeated.

She rolled her eyes.

"Never mind. It was a joke hun," she grinned a little at his obliviousness.

"Hun?" he began to question, but she was too distracted to answer.

"We're here!" she announced, grabbing his arm to pull him through another door.

Once they were through the door they were met with another corridor filled with doors and a small desk at which two nurses were sitting at,

"Rachel, are you sure we're meant to be here-" he whispered hastily as the nurses glanced at them.

However, his worry disappeared when one of the nurses beamed.

"Rachel! How are you? I see you brought a friend!" The blonde haired one said grinning.

She nodded, still holding Spencer's arm.

"Well go on ahead. I'm sure the kids will be delighted to see you," the nurse continued, nodding them on.

"Thanks," Rachel mumbled, before heading off down along the corridor, pulling Spencer with her.

"Kids? What's going on?" he asked softly.

She sighed at his impatience.

"Well, we're in the pediatric ward. We're gonna sing with the cancer patients," she told him.

She came to the hospital quite often. Singing with the kids always put her in a good mood. And it raised their spirits too. She knew they needed that. She found it very rewarding overall.

"Sing?" he whispered nervously.

They had stopped walking now because they were outside the right room.

"Yeah. You don't have to sing very loudly," she promised him.

He ran a hand though his hair nervously.

"Well what if they don't like me?" he mumbled, sounding even more frightened.

She grinned a little at this.

"Of course they'll like you," she assured him.

"But what if-"

She cut him off by catching his hand in hers and giving it a squeeze.

"Spencer, they're gonna love you. Alright?" she insisted.

He nodded slowly giving in.

"Alright.." he mumbled, as she pushed the door open.

_____________________

"Didn't I tell you they'd love you?" Rachel grinned widely as they stepped outside of the hospital, the cold air hitting them suddenly.

Spencer couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

He really had gotten along well with the children. Although he had only sung very softly, they all seemed to like him. And of course Rachel made sure to tell them he was some kind of genius and so they had bombarded him with questions about anything and everything. He always found it fascinating how curious children were.

Thankfully enough he had in fact been able to answer all of their questions. Which had both amused and completely shocked Rachel.

"You were amazing with them Spencer," she continued.

He shrugged.

"Not like you. Them kids adore you, it's pretty obvious," he replied.

Her smile widened at that.

"And you were excellent at playing the guitar," he complimented.

"Thank you," she replied softly.

"How long have you been playing?" he asked.

"8 years. Since I was 15.." she didn't even have to think about the answer.

She remembered the first time she had played guitar very clearly. Her older brother had been learning for a couple of months and she was determined to start it up too. They had a few guitars in the house - her dad had always meant to learn but never really had gotten around to it. And so she roped her brother into showing her a few chords. She remembered it so clearly because it was so painful. Because you had to hold so hard on the strings. After a few months of course, her hands adapted but she always remembered the pain.

"So do you go there often?" he asked her softly.

She nodded.

"I've been going there at least once every two weeks since I moved here," she told him.

"And what, you just showed up one day with a guitar and randomly started singing?" he questioned, a teasing hint in his tone, though he was genuinely wondering.

She rolled her eyes.

"Not exactly.." she began, grinning slightly.

"Well back in Ireland I used to work a lot with the children in the local hospital.. Not just the cancer patients too. So when I got settled here I visited the hospital. Offered to help as much as I could. Singing seemed to be the best way of raising their spirits," she explained.

He smiled at that.

"I must say, I'm impressed," he replied.

Once again, she rolled her eyes.

"You? How do you think I feel? The way you answered those questions back there was insane Spencer. AND your an FBI agent.. Do you have any idea how impressive that is?" she asked.

He blushed ever so slightly which she couldn't help but find sweet.

"Although you are a big talker - which was definitely proved back there - you don't really seem to talk about yourself much. Wanna play 20 questions?" she suggested suddenly, wanting to find out more about him.

"20 questions?" he repeated, not really knowing what she meant.

She chuckled slightly at that. Of course, this would be the thing he didn't know.

"Basically we just keep asking each other questions. Its a quick way to find out things about each other" she explained quickly.

"What kind of questions?" he asked softly.

She shrugged.

"Any kind.. I'll start. Where did you grow up?" she began.

There was a brief silence before he answered that.

"Las Vegas" he replied.

Her face lit up at that.

"Seriously? You were raised in Vegas? I've always wanted to go there.. Do you have family there?" she rambled out quickly.

He grinned a little.

"As far as I'm aware, it is my turn to ask the question now," he challenged.

"Right, right.. Okay, fire away!" she told him, anxious to get to ask him another question.

"Ok.. em. What's your full name?" he asked, finally deciding on a question.

She wasn't expecting such a simple question so it took her a minute to reply.

"Rachel-Jane Marie Evans" she answered.

He nodded.

"So you've a double barrel name or Jane is just one of your middle names?" he continued.

"Double barrel. Theres a hyphen" she clarified.

Again he nodded.

"So back to me - Vegas. Any family there?" she questioned.

The game went on like that for another half an hour, until they had eventually circled back around the town in a way that lead straight back to the hospital.

Spencer was surprised at how much information he had learned about her from such a basic game. He found out that she had moved around Ireland a lot as a child but had spent her last few years at school in the County Mayo, in the west of Ireland. He found out she had an older brother who had moved to Australia to find work and had ended up meeting the love of his life there and getting married. Also he had managed to ask about her love life, learning she had been single for just under a year.

Rachel was also pleased with how well the game had worked. Although Spencer was still a bit reluctant to talk about himself, she managed to learn a lot. His mother still lived in Las Vegas, but he didn't know his father well as he had abandoned them when he was a child. He didn't seem to want to say any more on the matter , which she understood. She also learned he had three PHD's (which completely baffled her- three?!) And he told her he had joined the FBI at age 21.

"Well my car is over by the Smoke Pit Café. Do you need a lift home?" she asked, once they were back around to the hospital.

He shook his head.

"No, it's fine. I'll get a cab," he replied.

"Oh please Spencer! I was the one who made you come here, the least I can do is give you a lift home. C'mon!" she called him along as she crossed the road.

Her car was small and red. Something nice enough, but not to expensive for her to keep going.

She placed her guitar case along the back seats and then hopped into the drivers seat.

Spencer slipped into the passenger seat quietly, sighing once she started the car.

"Rachel?" he asked.

"Yes?"

He took a small breath before answering.

"You didn't make me come, I wanted to. I had a really good time actually," he told her quickly, obviously relieved to get the words out.

"Actually? What, were you expecting to have a bad time?" she questioned, raising het eyebrows.

His eyes widened.

"No - not at all, That's not what I meant-" he began rambling but her laugh cut him off.

"Relax. I'm just messing with you Spencer," she laughed.

He brow furrowed until he realised what had happened.

"Not funny," he mumbled, but he couldn't help but smile a little.

She sighed.

"Thanks anyways Spencer. I had a really good time too," she told him in a more serious tone.

"Good," he replied quietly.

There was a small silence in which she broke quickly.

"So where to?"


	7. Chapter Eight

It was only 8am when Rachel woke up the next morning.

Her mind kept wandering to Spencer Reid. He was unlike any man she'd ever met before. He really was very good-looking. Just in a more cute- geeky kind of way. She found herself drawn to him for some reason. Everything he said or did, made her like him more and she really wasn't used to it.

In all honesty, she was used to being chased after. Not that she wanted Spencer to chase her or anything. It was just different.. Good different though.

She didn't really have much to do that day so she threw on a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a football jersey, deciding to just hang around her apartment.

A lazy day was just what she needed.

It was nearly 7pm when she heard a knock on the door. She was halfway through the movie 'He's Just Not That Into You' and wasn't very pleased at being interrupted. Sighing, she hopped off of the couch.

"You better have a good reason for disturbing me," she called out, expecting it to be one of her girlfriends.

She swung the door open, revealing an embarrassed-looking Spencer.

"I can go- I really should have called first-" he began rambling, clearly worried he had upset her.

"No, of course not. I'm so sorry, I just figured you were one of the girls - Come in, please," she stood back a bit to let him walk in past her.

She closed the door behind him softly, turning to face him.

"No psycho to catch today, huh?" she questioned with a grin.

He smiled, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted something," he replied instead, though he no longer seemed worried.

She glanced down at her choice of clothes and back up to him. The jersey was three sizes to big for her so it hung mid-thigh. Her tracksuit bottoms were very old ones, covered in small rips and were very faded. She was wearing odd socks - one bright blue, one red. And her hair was pulled to the side in a loose plait

"Well as you can see I'm about to head out," she replied sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes, still smiling.

She headed to the living room then, him following.

"So Dr. Reid, to what do I owe this pleasure?" she asked, a teasing hint to her voice as she settled herself back on the couch.

He shrugged, sitting next to her.

"I don't know. I just kinda-" he cut himself off quickly before he could finish the sentence.

"Just kinda what?" she asked, instantly wanting to know what it was.

Wanted to see you.That was what he was going to say. How ridiculous. It made absolutely no sense to him. He had an IQ of 187 yet when he was around her, he could hardly think straight.

"I was just bored really. I didn't think you'd mind much if I dropped by," he ended instead.

He was worried she was going to push the matter further, but she happily accepted that was the reason he was here.

"What movie is this?" he asked quickly, just to be sure they wouldn't come back to the topic.

"He's Just Not That Into You. We don't have to watch it though. I doubt you're the romantic comedy kind," she replied with a shrug.

However, he insisted on watching, seeing as she was already halfway through it.

They ended up turning it into a full-on movie marathon. After that movie ended, the watched The Hunger Games, which he admitted was not as bad as he thought it might be.

Once that was over, she put on the first Lord of The Rings movie. Of course they had to follow it with the second one.

At this point both of them were pretty exhausted. The couch was pretty small for the two of them, so they had ended up quite close together.

Spencer was somewhat behind her on the couch giving her more of the room at the front. She could feel the images blurring, the voiced on the television becoming more distant until suddenly she fell asleep.

It wasn't long after her that Spencer fell asleep, and despite the fact that he knew he'd end up being extremely embarrassed about it in the morning, he found himself lying against her to sleep on.

__________________________

 

Spencer Reid's eyes opened slowly the next morning.

For a minute he didn't really know where he was.

It was then that he felt something under his arm move.

Rachel. He was in her living room.

"Crap.." he mumbled, sitting up quickly.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time.

9am - it wasn't too late, luckily. Though he would undeniably be late for work.

He climbed over Rachel's sleeping figure, as quietly as he could, and made his way straight to the door.This was just great. He was never late for work. He drove back to his apartment, getting ready as quickly as he could. Hotchner was not going to be impressed at his lateness.

Walking into the FBI headquarters, he went straight to the conference room.Sure enough, the whole team was there, listening as JJ explained about the case.

"Sorry I'm late," he mumbled, when all eyes flew to him.

Aaron Hotchner, his boss and leader of the team simply nodded.

It wasn't until they were on the jet, heading for Minnesota that he was questioned.

"So where were this morning Spence? Your never late" JJ asked him quietly.

He was sitting with her and Morgan, far enough away from the others that they couldn't hear her question.

He shrugged.

"I overslept. My alarm clock's broken," he lied quickly.

Jennifer nodded, but Derek's eyes narrowed.

"I don't know Reid. You've been acting weird for a couple of days now.. You sure there's not something going on?" he smirked ever so slightly as he said it.

"Of course not" Spencer replied quickly, hoping that was the end. He was foolish to hope.

 

It was 11:55am when Rachel woke up.

She wasn't surprised when she woke up alone. Spencer would have had to have gone to work, and she knew that. Yet, she couldn't help but wish he was there with her. Shrugging it off, she went to get ready for the day.

The student she translated for didn't have any classes on Monday, however she would be working in the bar that night.She had water aerobics at 1 o'clock, which she went to with two of her friends - Lily and Bella.

Of all of her female friends, she was definitely closest with Bella and Lily. Bella was the first person she met when she moved to Woodbridge because she lived in the apartment building. Bella was very loud and outgoing and so Rachel found it easy to get on with her and within only a couple of weeks she had become one of her best friends.

Lily was a completely different story. A month after meeting Bella, when Rachel had slipped into the local bookstore to buy a copy of The Fault In Our Stars, she had found her browsing through the poetry section.They somehow got talking and from that day they became friends. Lily was a lot quieter than Bella, but once introduced they hit it off pretty well.

Rachel was contemplating telling them about Spencer. She was sure they would find him just as fascinating as she did. She just wasn't fully sure though that she wanted to introduce them. What if Spencer took a particular liking to one of them? Both of them were beautiful. And Lily was smart. So much smarter than Rachel was. They would get on well, the two of them.

She sighed out loud, realising how ridiculous she was being.

Telling them about him would do no harm whatsoever.


	8. Chapter Nine

"Why do I ever let you two talk me into this? That was horrible! My skin gets all wrinkly and the chlorine makes my hair fuzzy!" Bella moaned as they walked in the door of her apartment.

Rachel rolled her eyes dramatically, heading straight to the couch.

"Why exactly are you still coming then?" Lily asked, plopping down next to her.

Bella complained about the water aerobics every week.

"She's got a thing for the instructor," Rachel replied easily.

Lily giggled while Bella just shrugged.

"I always have had a thing for Italians," she agreed.

Tommaso, the hunky instructor was drop-dead gorgeous. From the first time Bella had laid eyes on him, she was enchanted. Not that you could really blame her. With his huge muscles and adorable accent, it was hard not to be attracted to him.

Rachel sighed loudly, drawing their attention to her.

"So.. There's this guy I wanna tell you about," she started, making sure they were both paying attention.

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"I met him last week at the bar," she continued.

Bella rolled her eyes.

"He isn't another one of those idiots that you 'date' for a week or two and then we hear nothing of after that, is he?" she asked.

Rachel chuckled slightly, shaking her head.

The whole time she was with friends with Bella and Lily, she had been single. Commitment really wasn't her thing. She was all for the occasional fling though. A bit of fun. So she could see why the girls wouldn't take her too seriously.

"No, he's- he's different. Very different," she ended up mumbling the last two words to herself.

"How so?" Lily asked softly.

Rachel shrugged, not really sure how to explain.

"He's shy for starters," she began. "And he's smart. Incredibly smart. He graduated high school when he was 12, you know. He's good looking but in a sweet, cute way. And he-"

"Wow" Bella cut her off quickly, smirking.

"What?" Rachel frowned slightly in confusion.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"You're totally into this guy Rach," she explained quickly.

"Though he does sound pretty amazing, so I can understand why. What's his name?" Bella added.

"Spencer," she replied softly.

They spent the next half an hour fully discussing Spencer. Analysing absolutely everything he had said or done since they had met. It wasn't long before both Bella and Lily were asking to meet him. Rachel had to explain to them about his busy work schedule. They were both very impressed that he was an FBI agent.

"Can we call him then at least? I'm sure he could take five minutes off to chat," Bella suggested excitedly, holding out a hand for her phone.

However Rachel shook her head.

"We really can't guys. He needs to work," she told them.

Bella sighed.

"Oh c'mon Rach! Five minutes that's all!" she begged.

After 20 minutes of arguing, Bella finally gave up.

And so the next hour passed by uneventfully. The three of them just sat around watching television. Rachel was almost sure that Bella had dropped the idea of calling him. That was until she went into the bathroom, leaving her phone unattended in her bag.

"Thanks baby," Morgan hung up the phone.

"Garcia's narrowing it down now," he added to Reid and Rossi.

Rossi headed out of the room to tell the rest of the team the recent developments.

Before Reid was given a chance to say anything, his phone rang in his pocket.

He slipped it out quickly, seeing Rachel's number. Should he answer it?

He started to worry then. After all he had left this morning without any notice at all. What if she was mad at him?

"You gonna answer that Reid?" Morgan asked, glancing back at him.

Sighing, he clicked answer.

"Hello?" he answered softly, hoping Derek wasn't going to overhear.

"Spencer? As in Spencer Reid?"

He frowned. That certainly was not Rachel.

"Emm, yes. Who's this?" he asked back.

"This is Bella. I'm just ringing to find out - what are your intentions with young Rachel?" her voice was so serious that it took him by surprise.

"My-My intentions?" he wasn't really sure what to respond to that.

He could hear Morgan chuckle from where he was writing on the board they had set up and he rolled his eyes.

"Yes , your intentions" she repeated.

"I-Uh-Uh-" he began stuttering.

Before he had a chance to think of an answer there was a yell of 'Bella' in the background and the phone went dead.

Morgan turned to face him, grinning.

"Women troubles?"

________________________

 

Wednesday night, Rachel arrived to the bar on time for the first time in god knows how long. She had been talking on the phone with Spencer the night before and knew he was pretty stressed out from the case he'd been working on. They had only been able to talk for twenty minutes, due to the fact that he was so busy. Yet it had given her enough time to explain and apologise for Bella's weird phone call.

Upon telling him about Lily and Bella, she mentioned that they wanted to meet him. This of course had worried him. He really didn't want to be interrogated by her friends after only knowing her for a week. However she'd convinced him that he'd be fine. She was sure they'd love him. And so he'd promise he would meet them as soon as he got the chance.

She was only half an hour into work when her phone vibrating in her handbag by her feet distracted her.

"Just a moment," she told the men at the bar before squatting down to check her phone.

She instantly saw there was a text from Spencer. According to it he had arrived back in Virginia 20 minutes ago. She sent him a quick reply saying she was at the bar and that she'd give him a ring afterwards.

The bar was so busy for the next half hour that Rachel didn't get a chance to check her phone again. Whether or not Spencer had replied, she had no idea.

Everything was pretty much the same as normal until she overheard something that caught her attention.

There was a very interesting-looking blonde woman sitting near the edge of the bar with a brunette and another blonde. She was wearing glasses and had her hair in fluffy pigtails with a sparkling hairband. However, it wasn't her appearance that caught Rachel's attention.

"Cut him some slack guys, he needs to let loose. Working at the BAU isn't exactly the most relaxing job," she mumbled, taking a sip of her drink, eyes fixated on a rather good-looking dark-skinned man out on the dance floor surrounded by at least three women obviously wanting to take him home.

Rachel almost froze when she heard it. BAU? That's where Spencer worked. It wasn't like there was many of those around. Right? Honestly she had no idea.

She decided to just ask.

"Hey did you say that man works at the BAU? As in the FBI's BAU?" She asked, drawing the attention of all three of the women.

The blonde one who had spoken gave her a funny look.

"Yeah, he does," she replied, cautiously.

"In Quantico?" Rachel continued.

The brunette woman raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah..Why?" she asked suspiciously.

Rachel shrugged, grinning slightly, not really sure how to respond. Should she just ask if they knew Spencer?

The three women looked very suspicious, so maybe it wasn't the best idea.

"Oh, just wondering. FBI agent - that's pretty cool," she decided on replying with.

The original woman who'd spoken gave her a grin.

"So what do you think of him?" she asked, glancing back to the man dancing.

Rachel followed her gaze, raising an eyebrow thoughtfully when she spotted him.

"Derek Morgan. Just look at him go," she murmured, looking back to Rachel.

She couldn't help but laugh at the older woman.

"He's certainly.. something," she replied.

The other two women gave her a smile.

"I'm Rachel, by the way," she added, cleaning out one of the glasses with a cloth.

"Penelope,"


	9. Chapter Nine

"All of you, really?" Rachel asked.

It had only been half an hour since she had started talking to Penelope but she had found out a lot. She know knew the names of all three of the women - Penelope, Emily and Jennifer. And of course the man - who in fact was still dancing - was Derek Morgan. Penelope seemed to have a particular liking for him.

And she had just found out that not only did Derek work in the BAU, but so did the other three.

"Yeah, the four of us and then three others on the team," Penelope explained, taking another sip of the drink.

Rachel had a feeling that perhaps had Penelope not drank quite as much alcohol, she may not have divulged such information as easily, yet she was eagerly taking advantage of the situation. The team. That was what Spencer had said when they first met. She was curious to say the least. Were these the people he had been talking about?

"So why aren't the other three here?" she asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Thankfully, none of them seemed to notice how much she really wanted the answers to these questions. She really was trying her best to find out as much about them as possible without seeming too nosey or weird. Fortunately for her, working in a bar meant she was talking to all different kinds of people all the time, enabling her to ask the questions as casually as possible.

"Well Hotch always stays at the office really late, Rossi's tired and bars just aren't really Reid's thing," she shrugged.

Rachel nodded.

Reid. So this was the team he spoke of.

"You seem very interested," Emily said, half jokingly, half suspiciously.

Again, Rachel nodded.

"I am. The FBI is.. very fascinating," she replied slowly.

She wasn't lying. Before last week she had never met an FBI agent before - Now she had met three. And there was no denying it was downright amazing. An FBI agent. Wasn't that the dream? As a child that was probably one of the coolest jobs in the world. Something you'd watch on television.

"Well it's not all James Bond kinda stuff" Jennifer told her with a smile.

"But some of it is, right? I've always liked the idea of breaking down doors.. And the long chases after a killer and-" Rachel began to ramble but cut off when Penelope laughed.

"You're not far off honey. Morgan's certainly one for breaking down the doors," she took another glance at the agent dancing.

Rachel couldn't help but picture Spencer kicking down a door. Now that certainly would be a sight for sore eyes. She knew he probably wasn't the sort but she still couldn't stop her mind from wandering.

She spent the next half hour chatting to the women until it was time for her to go. This was now two Wednesday nights in a row she had spent almost her whole shift at the bar talking to people from the FBI.

"I better get going, my shift just ended," she told the women, half disappointed to be leaving. She really wanted to talk to Spencer before he went to bed though. To tell him about meeting his co-workers.

"We should meet up some time for brunch or something," Penelope suggested, sounding so incredibly cliché that Rachel couldn't help but smile as she pulled the small black apron off, ducking under the counter to walk out to the women.

"Sounds great," she replied honestly.

She really had gotten along well with them, despite the fact she had only started talking to them to see if they knew Spencer.

"Perfect! I'll give you a call sometime," Penelope grinned widely.

Rachel nodded, making to head out and then suddenly remembered something. Turning around, she faced the three women with a confused look.

"I didn't give you my number," she stated.

Both Emily and Jennifer started laughing at this.

"Trust me, you don't need to," Jennifer told her softly.

She just nodded, still feeling confused, but decided to shrug it off.

"Well okay then.. I guess I'll see you soon so," she said with a small wave before heading out of the bar, shuffling through her bag for her phone as she did.

Once she found it she saw a message from Spencer saying he would wait up for her call. She couldn't help but smile slightly at that. She always felt bad keeping up on the phone. Especially with the sort of work he did. But he always seemed more than willing to wait up until she was able to call him, which made her feel delighted and guilty at the same time.

She quickly dialled his number and lifted the phone to her ear. It rang once..twice.. and then -

"Rachel," he didn't sound surprised. She could almost hear the smile in his voice.

"Spencer," she replied, unable to contain the grin that broke out across her face.

"How was work?" he asked. Normally it was the other way around but she eagerly took the opportunity to tell him what had happened.

"Well I met some very interesting people today," she replied, her voice smug.

His voice was casual, yet curious when he replied.

"Oh really?"

And with that she launched into a full-on explanation of what had just happened at the bar. All about how she had met Penelope, Emily and Jennifer. About the chat they had had about the FBI. She also mentioned Derek.

"He is quite the dancer," she chuckled, nearing her apartment building.

She heard him laugh too.

"Yes, he is," he replied.

She sighed then, suddenly moving on.

"So this Jennifer. She's the one who calls you 'Spence'?" she asked.

She had remembered him saying that in the hospital. JJ - Jennifer Jareau. She hadn't found out Jennifer's last name. But really, how many Jennifers could be working with him?

"You actually remembered that?" he seemed a little surprised.

She rolled her eyes.

"Well I may not be a genius like some people, but I'm not stupid," she feigned offense.

He began to panic at that.

"Oh god Rach, that's not what I meant-" he began quickly, but Rachel cut him off with a laugh.

"Relax Spencer, I'm messing with you," she told him easily, amused by his reaction.

Then suddenly she realised something.

"You just called me Rach," she said softly.

She could hear him clear his throat awkwardly.

"Erm- Did I?" he asked after a second of silence.

She ignored his obvious embarrassment at her pointing it out.

"Yeah, you've never done that before," she reminded him softly.

He sighed.

"I'm sorry, if you'd prefer I'd call you Rachel-" he began rambling but she cut him off.

"No, I like Rach," she told him softly.

Again, he cleared his throat.

"Right, well um back to JJ. She is the one who calls me Spence" he told her, obviously eager to change the subject.

Rachel nodded to herself.

"She's very pretty, Jennifer," she said slowly, wanting to decipher the relationship as quickly as possible.

"She is," he replied, sounding very confused.

Rachel sighed quietly, knowing that this was not going to be easy.

"You guys work together, so you must be pretty close, huh?" she asked then, trying a different angle.

Again, he was oblivious.

"Yeah, I suppose. Why?" he asked back.

"Oh no reason, just wondering," she replied quickly.

Why was he making this so difficult.

"So you two. Have you ever.. you know.." she trailed off, hoping he'd catch on.

Of course, he didn't.

"Ever what?" he questioned.

She sighed loudly, deciding the only way to deal with him was to ask him outright.

"Gone out? If she's the only person who calls you Spence I assume you must be pretty close, so I guess I just thought that maybe.." again she trailed off, anxious for his answer.

Jennifer was beautiful. And she was obviously very smart if she was a profiler. She knew Jennifer would understand him better than she ever could. She understood exactly what it was like for him at the FBI, whereas really Rachel never could. If there was something between Jennifer and Spencer - she'd never have a chance.

However, his response took her by surprise.

"Rachel, JJ's married," he chuckled slightly.

She felt herself flood with relief and embarrassment at the same time.

"Oh right.. I just did wonder," she mumbled.

She was at her apartment door now, and she walked inside quietly, flinging her handbag on the couch.

"Well hey, since all of your co-workers at out at the bar anyways, why don't you come over? I'm starving so I think I might order some pizza or something. It'll be like a re-enactment of last week, hey?" she suggested.

He laughed.

"Okay, sounds good to me," he agreed.

She grinned.

"Right, see you soon.." she replied, happily.

"Bye Rach," he emphasised her name.

She rolled her eyes.

"Bye Spence," she countered.

He chuckled slightly.

"Touché,"


	10. Chapter Ten

The pizza was delivered only a few minutes before Spencer arrived at Rachel's door. At this point she had the pizza on the coffee table in the sitting room and had already changed into checked pyjama bottoms and a white vest top. Her hair was still in the messy ponytail she had it in for work. Normally she would have no intention of letting a man she had only met see her like this, but for some reason Spencer was different.

She didn't hesitate whatsoever when she flung the apartment door open, revealing the genius she had become so fond of.

He scanned her quickly, a smile forming on his face as he met her eye.

"Hello," he greeted softly.

She smiled in response, standing back to let him walk past her, into the apartment.

"Well hello there," she responded.

Closing the door behind him, she led him to the sitting room.

"So I got pizza here. I got some mushrooms on it this time. Do you like mushrooms? I actually didn't even think about it. If you don't like mushroom I can just order another one. It's really no big-" she began rambling quickly.

He caught one of wrists, making her cut off quickly, glancing at his hand on her wrist with wide eyes.

He blushed slightly, quickly releasing his grip.

"Mushrooms are fine Rach," he said, looking down quickly, avoiding her eye.

She nodded.

"Okay then, let's dig in," she cleared her throat, taking a seat on the couch.

He copied her quickly, taking a slice of the pizza, nibbling on it quickly.

"So Spencer, what are your plans for the weekend?" she asked, overlooking the tension.

He shrugged.

"I don't know, depends on how work goes. I have no idea where I could be," he explained quickly.

"Why?" he added, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged ever so slightly.

"Well there's this horse riding place I wanna go to Saturday and I figured it'd be something you've never done before," she told him, taking a large bite of pizza after she did.

His eyes widened at that.

"Horse riding? As in horse-back riding?" he asked quickly.

She raised an eyebrow, swallowing.

"Uh-huh," she confirmed, studying his expression.

"Did you know that approximately 219 people a year are killed by horse-related accidents. And almost 30% of those happen just standing near the horse, you don't even have to be on them and-" he began rambling.

She cut him off quickly however.

"Spencer, I've been horse-riding since I was 3 years old. And I've never been injured too badly," she told him quickly.

It was his turn to raise his eyebrows.

"Too badly?"

She shrugged at that.

"Well, a few scratches and bruises, nothing too serious," she replied.

Seeing the expression on his face she decided to continue.

"I promise Spencer, you'd love it, really. It's just a fantastic feeling. You should come with me," she continued.

He sighed.

"Rachel I really don't think it's my kinda thing," he told her honestly.

She rolled her eyes dramatically.

"You never know until you try, right?" she smiled widely, trying to convince him.

"Rachel-"

He cut off when she grabbed hold of his arm, leaning closer to him to speak.

"Please Spencer? Just come with me once and if you don't like it, you don't have to go again. Just be open-minded, please?" her voice was a lot softer and she could nearly swear he shivered.

Smirking ever so slightly she tried again.

"Please Spence?" she whispered, using her finger to trace little shapes along his arm.

His eyes were wide at this point and he swallowed.

"O-okay," he mumbled softly, unable to draw his eyes from hers.

"Yeah?" she asked, a smile breaking out across her face.

He nodded.

"Yeah," he confirmed.

Her smile widened.

"Great! Well as long as you're around of course.. You'll be great at it, trust me," she continued, pulling back, to grab another slice of pizza.

He sighed.

"I do trust you," he told her.

She blushed a little at that.

"Though honestly, I have no idea why," he added quickly.

She gasped dramatically.

"Cheek!" she cried, punching him playfully.

The next half an hour they spent just chatting aimlessly. She told him all about horse-riding. That although she had moved a lot as a child, horse-riding was always something she had done a lot of. No matter where she was in the country, she always found somewhere to do it. As a young child she had a palomino horse, called Bambi.

Spencer admitted he had not really taken part in any practical extra-curricular activities as a child. He was much more likely to be a member of the mathletes or of chess club. This was exactly why Rachel felt he needed to come horse-riding with her. He may be a genius, but other than work he didn't really have much life experience.

Eventually he decided he needed to get home. He didn't want to overstay his welcome. Though honestly Rachel would easily be able to stay up all night talking to him. And she would be glad to.

She didn't say this though of course. She knew he wasn't a 'stay up all night talking about our feelings' type of guy.

"Well I'll call you tomorrow, yeah?" he asked softly once he was standing at the door of her apartment.

She nodded.

"Do. If you're free you can meet Lily and Bella," she replied.

He bit his lip at that, something which she found unbelievably adorable.

"Rachel?"

She met his eye quickly, realising she had been staring at his lips. Her cheeks flushed as he chuckled.

"I'm sorry what did you say?" she asked.

He was still smiling when he spoke.

"I really hope they don't hate me," he repeated.

She rolled her eyes.

"They won't. I mean how could they? You're..." she trailed off quickly, feeling her blush deepen.

He smirked at this, seeming unnaturally confident all of a sudden.

"I'm what?" he asked.

She narrowed her eyes, folding her arms.

"You're going home, remember?" she told him.

Rolling his eyes he shrugged.

"Fine. Goodnight Rachel," he replied.

To his surprise she flung her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug, He was momentarily shocked, but then wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"Night Spence," she whispered, once she had pulled back.

And with that she closed the door, leaving him completely dazed at what had just happened.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Spencer Reid didn't sleep much that night. His mind kept wandering to Rachel and how things were going between the two of the them. It was no secret that he'd never been in a real relationship before and he genuinely had no idea what he was doing. The only woman he'd ever even kissed properly was Lila and things with her had gone absolutely nowhere.

Rachel was different though. Honestly, it made no sense to him how he felt. When he was with her felt relaxed, as if he could completely be himself. But at the same time he felt nervous. More nervous that he'd ever felt before. Nervous that a any minute he was going to say or do something and she would run for the hills.

It was completely un-logical.

He felt he had only just managed to drift off to sleep when his alarm woke him up. He had a feeling it would not be a good day.

He wasn't wrong. The day passed by slowly. The team weren't on another case so the were just really focused on paperwork. Yet, all Spencer could focus on was meeting Rachel's friends. What if they hated him? What if they thought he was really weird and told Rachel that she shouldn't be friends with him anymore?

He wasn't exactly the best at getting people to like him. Though he had managed it with Rachel, right? She was basically the complete opposite of him and yet she seemed to like him, which he didn't fully understand.

When eventually it was time for him to go home, he practically ran out of the FBI headquarter building, which did not go unnoticed by his co-workers. If they weren't suspicious before, they certainly were now. They knew he wasn't acting the way he normally would. However he didn't have time to worry about them.

He made his way straight to the Metro which he took to and from work every day - He wasn't exactly the best driver.

When on the metro, he rang her.

"Jesus Christ Bella! When did you get so good at running?" Rachel asked her brunette friend, collapsing onto her couch, with a groan.

For some reason they had decided to go for a jog after work. They used to jog together back when Rachel had first moved into the building. Rachel wasn't a bad runner - she could run for miles without stopping. However she couldn't run very fast. She never had been able to. Even back when she was a chid, she used to always lose race's because she was more of a jogger. Now though, Bella had suddenly become fast as a cheetah.

Bella just chuckled at her, rolling her eyes as she took a gulp of water from the cup she had taken from Rachel's kitchen.

"Rach, relax, there wasn't much difference between us," she insisted.

Rolling her eyes, Rachel sighed.

"Oh please Bells! You were like a flipping Usain Bolt out there," She retorted.

Bella snorted.

"And I was like one of those turtles that take like an hour to crawl onto the sand. Though in Finding Nemo they're pretty cool.. They're all high and hilarious.." she rambled off, thoughtfully.

Bella just laughed at her weird friend, pushing her slightly, so she herself could sit on the couch.

"So Rach, when will we get to meet this fantastic Spencer Reid?" she asked her, poking her arm.

Rachel sighed.

"I don't know. Soon - I hope. I mean, his work keeps him pretty busy but hopefully he'll get some free time," she replied, honestly.

She really had never met someone with a work schedule as hectic as Spencer's. And of course she would love to be able to spend more time with him, but she loved how committed he was to his work. He loved his job, she could tell.

"You know I'm starting to doubt his existence. This is you - You really don't have good taste in men. I don't know how you found this one," she teased, her tone playful.

Rachel chuckled in response.

"You talked to him on the phone Bells," she reminded her.

"Yeah but that could've been anyone," Bella replied.

"Oh he exists. Seriously I-" she began to argue but she cut off when she heard her ringtone 'The Fray ~ You Found Me' blare out from where she had dumped her phone next on the coffee table.

She groaned as she reached to grab it.

"It's him," she told Bella quickly, causing her to bounce up in her seat.

"Really?! Please let me answer it!" she begged.

Rachel just rolled her eyes, quickly clicking answer.

"Spence, hey!" she answered the phone, her voice light.

Bella grinned widely beside her.

"Hi.. I -eh- just finished work so I figured I'd give you a call and see what you were up to," he replied, sounding a little nervous.

"Well I've basically been tortured for the last hour, trying to keep up with Bella. We went for a run," Rachel replied.

Bella rolled her eyes.

"I'll give you some privacy," she mumbled, before heading out to the kitchen.

Rachel just nodded.

"Really? I figured you'd be good at running," Spencer replied.

Her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"Why?"

"Well based on your physical appearance I.." he cut himself off pretty quickly realising where he was going.

She couldn't help but laugh a little, she had a feeling he was blushing.

"I shall take that as a compliment Dr. Reid. No, I can run but just not very fast," she told him, overlooking his embarrassment.

"Actually Bella's still here if you wanna come round? She's pretty eager to meet you," she added.

He didn't respond for a minute and when he did, he sounded nervous.

"Really? She does? I don't know Rach, what if she hates me.." he mumbled.

She felt bad, but she couldn't help but smile. He was being adorably worried over this.

"She won't I promise Spence.. Please? I'd really like you to meet her," she replied, trying to reassure him.

He sighed, before answering.

"Okay. Can you give me like an hour?" he asked.

She grinned.

"Yes hun, that's fine," she replied.

"You've called me 'hun' before you know. In the hospital," he mumbled, more to himself than to her.

She hadn't actually thought about it. She called everyone 'hun'. It just came naturally to her.

"Sorry, would you prefer I didn't?" she asked in response, worried that he didn't want her to.

"Oh no, no. I was just pointing it out - I didn't mean - I mean it's not that I don't like it - Cause I really do-" he began rambling but he stopped when she started laughing.

"Relax Spence, it's fine. I'll see you in an hour so?" she double checked.

"Yes, see you then" he replied, before the line went dead.

She hopped up off of the couch quickly, tossing her phone back onto the coffee table.

"Spencer's coming in an hour! I'm going to take a quick shower," she called out to Bella, who was still in the kitchen.

She ignored Bella's shouting back of how she couldn't meet Spencer smelling disgusting. Rachel took a quick shower, getting changed into pair of denim skinny jeans and a plaid button-up shirt. She blow-dried her hair, so that it was somewhat straight - or at least straighter than it normally was anyways. So she did it in a fishtail, quickly, not really having time to do anything else with it.

Bella had also taken a shower and was now in some of Rachel's clothes, lounging on the couch in the sitting room .

"Should I invite Lily round?" she asked as Rachel entered the room.

Thinking about it for a minute she shook her head.

"Nah, I don't wanna overwhelm him with the two of you," she replied.

Bella feigned offense.

"Oh c'mon! We aren't that bad!" she insisted.

Rachel shrugged, taking a seat next to her.

"He's pretty nervous about it. It'd be easier for him to meet you one at a time I'd say," she explained.

Bella nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer.

"So, what exactly is your status?" she asked.

Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"Our status?" she asked.

"Yeah, your status. What exactly is the relationship?" she pressed.

Rachel bit her lip at that. She hadn't really thought much about where things were going with them.

"I-I don't know. We're friends," she answered, her voice sounding unconvincing.

Bella rolled her eyes.

"Well I know that but I mean has anything happened between you? Has he made a move?" she continued.

Rachel snorted at that.

Spencer make a move? Oh please. She had a feeling that if he wanted to make a move on her, he wouldn't. He wouldn't have the confidence.

Bella raised an eyebrow at her amused expression but a knock on the door distracted her.

"I'll get it," Rachel told her, quickly heading out to the door.

She took a deep breath before opening it.


	12. Chapter Twelve

"I'll get it," Rachel told her, quickly heading out to the door.

She took a deep breath before opening it.

"Spencer," She smiled warmly at the very nervous looking man standing in the doorway.

He gave her a small smiled in return.

"Rachel," he replied, walking in past her as she stood back.

His hair was tousled as if he had been running his hands through it and she had to shake off the feeling of wanting to know how it would feel to run her own fingers through it.

"Well c'mon," she mumbled quickly, heading towards the living room.

He followed her slowly, obviously still nervous. What if Bella didn't like him? If she started pointing out his flaws to Rachel, she might not want to be his friend anymore. And honestly he was enjoying her company all too much to let that happen.

However, he walked into the room behind her nonetheless anxiously. His eyes instantly flew to the woman sitting casually on the couch. She had brown hair, it was somewhat shorter than Rachel's but not by much. He eyes were big and blue and when she smiled he noticed her teeth were perfectly straight.

"Ahh so he does exist," she grinned once her gaze landed on Spencer.

He frowned, confused and looked to Rachel for an explanation.

Rachel however just rolled her eyes.

"Don't mind her. Spencer, this is Bella. Bella, Spencer," she introduced, waving a hand carelessly between the two.

Bella's grin widened.

"Well Spencer, it's great to meet you, Rachel hasn't shut up about you this past week so I-" she began but cut off when she noticed the glare Rachel was giving her.

Spencer just glanced back at Rachel, a small smirk playing at his lips.

"Oh really?" he asked, once again showing the flare of confidence Rachel had only seen once before.

The fact that her cheeks turned a pale pink colour only encouraged him.

"Yeah, seriously it's been Spencer this and Spencer that. But when she kept saying you couldn't meet us I was starting to think maybe she'd made you up," She continued.

He raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying himself.

"Why would you think that?" he asked.

She shrugged.

"Rachel hasn't exactly got the best taste in men usually. She seems to only go for complete douchebags. When she told us about you you seemed almost too good to be true," Bella explained.

At this point Spencer had sat down next to Bella.

"Okay Bells, thanks and all but I think he's heard enough," Rachel intervened quickly.

However, both Spencer and Bella agreed that he hadn't heard enough and so Bella launched into a full explanation of some of the men Rachel had 'dated' before Spencer.

"Do you remember that idiot who thought that Labour day was a day that we celebrated all of our mothers who had gone into labour?" Bella asked Rachel who was sitting on the floor with her legs propped against the couch, watching a rerun of Beverly Hills 90210 almost fifteen minutes later.

Rachel couldn't help but grin ever so slightly at that.

Spencer's laugh filled the room. And although Rachel wasn't too pleased at the conversation him and Bella were having, she couldn't help but glance up at him, just to watch him laugh. His eyes crinkled at the corners and he tilted his head forward slightly. His laugh was thoroughly amazing.

She was so focused on Spencer, she hadn't even noticed Bella had stood up.

"Well a certain hunky aerobics instructor has just invited me out for a drink so I'm gonna run down to my place to get changed," she announced, her phone in her hand.

Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"Tommaso?" she asked.

Bella just nodded. Rachel hadn't even realised she had given him her number.

"It's been really great meeting you Spencer. You should meet Lily, she'd love to have someone smart around," Bella continued.

Spencer grinned.

"Thanks, it's been lovely meeting you too," she replied.

Bella then turned her attention to Rachel.

"Hey, how do you say 'How are you?' in Italian?" she asked.

"Bells, he's rather fluent in English," she replied.

Bella rolled her eyes.

"Do you know it or not?" she pressed.

"Come stai" she replied.

Bella grinned widely.

"Thanks, I'll let you know how it goes," she replied, flashing both Rachel and Spencer a smile before heading out.

It was then Spencer turned his gaze to Rachel.

"You speak Italian?" he asked, seeming genuinely impressed.

She shrugged.

"Not really. I told you I travel a lot- I just know what I need to," she replied modestly.

He nodded.

"Do you speak any other languages?" he continued. He was interested in finding out as much as he could about her. It seemed the more time he spent with her, the more sides to her he saw.

Again, she shrugged.

"A little Spanish. I had to study French in school anyways so I'm pretty fluent in it," she replied casually.

He grinned.

"Wow, I must say I'm quiet impressed," he admitted.

She glanced up at him from where she was still lying on the floor.

"Don't be. I've spent a lot of time in Paris - you tend to pick it up," she replied.

He rolled his eyes.

"Don't sell yourself short," he told her, meeting her eye.

She smiled slightly.

Her stomach making a noise which sounded like some kind of dying whale broke the moment. She sat up quickly, patting her stomach as Spencer grinned.

"I'm pretty hungry. You wanna go get something to eat?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Where?" he asked.

She shrugged.

"Well there's this restaurant I like in Dumfries. We could go there?" she suggested.

His eyes widened slightly.

"A-A restaurant?" he seemed somewhat flustered at the idea.

She nodded slowly.

"Yeah. A restaurant is a place where people go to dine-" she began but he cut her off quickly.

"I know what a restaurant is. I was just taken off guard.. But yeah - sure," he replied softly.

She gave him a funny look, a little confused at how flustered he was but nodded.

"Great, let's go so," she said, hopping up off of the floor, heading towards the door, grabbing her bag as she did.

He followed behind her and watched as she grabbed her keys.

She gave him a grin.

"I'm driving," she commented, causing him to roll his eyes.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

"The original Delmonico's opened in 1827 in a rented pastry shop at 23 William Street and appeared in a list of restaurants in 1830. It was opened by the brothers John and Peter Delmonico, from Ticino, Switzerland. In 1831, they were joined by their nephew, Lorenzo Delmonico, who eventually became responsible for the restaurant's wine list and menu," Spencer continued as Rachel took a sip of her glass of water.

They had been in the restaurant for fifteen minutes and were waiting for their food to arrive. Spencer was feeling a little awkward. He had freaked out a little when she mentioned going to a restaurant because that seemed like something a couple would do. He wasn't really sure how thing like this worked. Not that he even was sure what exactly this was. Things like this just didn't happen to him. He wasn't the one who just met women at bars. And more so, women didn't normally take such an interest in him.

Rachel just grinned, still amazed at the extent of his knowledge.

"Really?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

He nodded.

"The brothers moved their restaurant several times before settling at 2 South William Street. When the building was opened on a grand scale in August 1837 after the Great Fire Of New York, New Yorkers were told that the columns by the entrance had been imported from the ruins of Pompeii," he finished.

Her smile widened.

"Sorry, I tend to ramble.." he muttered an apology, glancing down at the table in front of him.

Rachel simply shrugged.

"Don't apologise Spence, you amaze me, truly," she replied honestly, clearly unabashed.

This was exactly what confused him about her. She could blush at random times for no reason at all, yet she could give him a straight-up compliment without the slightest hint of embarrassment at all.

He looked up once again to meet her eye and smiled shyly.

"Thanks," he mumbled and once again she grinned.

Before either of them had a chance to say anything else, a waitress arrived at the table, leaving the bottle of wine Rachel had ordered, with two glasses and a promise that their food would only be a few more minutes.

After thanking her, Rachel immediately poured some of the familiar red liquid into her glass.

"Are you having any?" she asked Spencer, still holding the bottle. to fill his glass if he wanted some.

He looked unsure.

"Good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used," she told him slowly, pulling the best British accent she could manage.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"That's from Othello. Act 2 Scene 1," he mumbled.

She shrugged, her lips spreading into a wide grin.

"I know. I can like Shakespeare," she replied.

He still looked rather surprised.

"You really don't seem the sort," he told her honestly.

Once again she shrugged.

"I know. For Leaving Cert we had to study King Lear and I loved it. It took me by surprise too. But I started going to see Shakespeare plays and as weird as it sounds I actually enjoy them," she explained.

Spencer smiled.

"I like King Lear" he admitted and instantly went off in a rant about the writing of King Lear and all the minute details Rachel didn't know. However Rachel was actually interested. As completely random as it was she did enjoy Shakespeare. Of course Spencer knew absolutely everything there was to know about every play Shakespeare had ever written. And so he had plenty to talk about over dinner. He wasn't used to someone being so interested in what he was talking about. Rachel seemed to be almost hanging on every word he spoke, even if she didn't fully understand everything.

Dinner passed by reasonably quickly and it wasn't long before the two of them were leaving the restaurant. Things had gotten just a tad awkward before they left. For Spencer anyways. He wasn't sure what the paying situation was. It wasn't exactly like it was a date but what if she was expecting him to pay? Or then what if he tried to pay and she got annoyed because she thought he was trying to be patronising? He really couldn't see a way around.

However, his worries quickly faded when she simply lay her half of the bill on the table along with a tip. He really didn't know why he had gotten so worried about it in the first place. It was such a random thing to stress about. It didn't make any sense at all. Thankfully his mini panic had gone unnoticed by Rachel and she was still chatting away as they stepped outside the restaurant.

Spencer insisted on driving, even though Rachel had only a little bit of wine. There was surely no way she was over the limit but he wasn't willing to risk it and so she gave in and let him drive. They were going to his apartment as he had an original copy of King Lear and she wanted to see it. She realised on the drive that he wasn't exactly the best driver, something she teased him about continuously as they walked up the stairs to his apartment.

The first thing she noticed when she walked into his apartment was the bookshelf. Or rather bookshelves. There were several of them, each stuffed to the brim with books. Her eyes widened as we walked closer, running her hand along them.

"Wow, you must really read a lot," she commented, glancing at the names. Some of them she recognised but majority of them were unfamiliar.

Spencer was watching her nervously, unsure of the way she would react.

She turned back to face him with a smile.

"Have you read them all? Well you probably have.. How many words did you say you could read a minute. It was something crazy like 5,oo0 wasn't it?" she asked.

"20,000," he corrected her quietly.

She nodded.

"Mmh. You know I wish I could read that fast. Not that I exactly do much reading anyways. I like romance novels though. Have you read The Fault In Our Stars? I don't care what age I am, that book is amazing" she was back to reading through the names of his books and he watched her as she did, barely taking in what she had said.

"The Fault In Our Stars? Never heard of it," he replied and she turned back to face him, her expression confused.

"How could you not have heard of it? It was a huge deal for a while.. " she trailed off, exasperated by the sheer unfamiliarity of it to him.

He just shrugged innocently and she rolled her eyes.

"Why am I not surprised Dr. Reid," she chuckled.

He found her the King Lear book and after flicking through it with her - explaining everything in detail to her of course - he decided to watch it with her. It came as no surprise to her that he had a copy of the play, along with a tonne of Shakespeare's other plays.

They watched the full thing, him occasionally pausing it to announce that the actor had not in fact stuck to the original script, quoting what it was they should have said.

After King Lear ended, Rachel ended up admitting she had never watched a single Doctor Who episode after noticing his boxset near the television. Spencer was so shocked that he suggested watching some then and there. He couldn't believe she hadn't seen a single Doctor Who episode. Of course, there were the crazy people who didn't like it but to have never seen it at all? That just wouldn't do.

Rachel agreed easily, seeing how enthusiastic he got when talking about it.

It had already been getting late when they started watching it and so a few episodes in and they could hardly keep there eyes open. After episode four Spencer turned off the television. He really needed to get to sleep for work in the morning. If he was late again the team would become really suspicious.

Rachel yawned, stretching her arms above her head.

"Do you mind if I sleep here tonight Spence? I'm too tired to drive home," she mumbled.

He nodded.

"Of course, You can take the bed and I'll sleep on the couch," he replied quickly.

She rolled her eyes, though it hurt a little as she was so tired.

"Don't be silly. I'm not kicking you out of your bed. I'll sleep on the couch," she told him firmly.

He opened his mouth to argue but she quickly cut him off.

"Do you have a pair of pyjama bottoms I could borrow maybe? I don't really wanna sleep in jeans," she interrupted.

Again he nodded.

"Sure," he mumbled, heading off into his room. She followed him cautiously, unsure whether or not she was meant to.

She watched as he looked through his drawers for a minute before pulling out a pair of blue plaid pyjama bottoms.

"I hope they fit okay," he mumbled a little shyly as he stood up to hand them to her.

She grinned.

"I'm sure they'll be fine Spencer. Thanks," she gave him a genuine smile, before heading off to the bathroom to change.

The pyjama bottoms were a quite long on her but they were comfortable enough on so she wasn't particularly bothered. She took off her shirt as well as she had a white vest on underneath it.

Heading back out to the couch she found that Spencer had left her a few pillows and two blankets. She grinned slightly, reminding herself to thank him in the morning. And without another though she got herself set up on the couch and fell asleep easily.

Penelope Garcia, Jennifer Jareau and Emily Prentiss were sitting in a small café early that morning. All chatting aimlessly about one thing or another. Penelope loved meeting up before work so they could have a good chat. With the seriousness of their jobs she rarely got time to gossip with them at work.

She was perfectly enjoying listening to JJ's recount of what Henry had done last night when suddenly her phone started ringing. JJ sighed, sticking her hand in her pocket to fish it out, answering it quickly.

Penelope and Emily exchanged glances as JJ talked before hanging up.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this breakfast short. That was Hotch. He need's us in there right away. We'll stop off at Spence's on the way and pick him up. Hotch said he's not answering his phone," she explained.

Penelope groaned.

"You know I really should be used to this by now.." she muttered, downing the last of her coffee and heading to the counter to get the bill.

Rachel was awakened by a loud knocking on the door. She groaned, sticking her head in a pillow wondering who the hell would be at her apartment this early in the morning. That's when she remembered she wasn't at her apartment. She was at Spencer's. Which meant that it could be something really important.

She groaned once again, sitting up to see if he had gone to answer the door, finally deciding she would just have to get up.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes quickly before hopping off of the couch and somewhat skipping over to the door due to the fact that she was cold.

She undid the bolt on his door and quickly swung it open.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

She undid the bolt on his door and quickly swung it open.

The next 30 seconds were the longest of Rachel's life. All four women had completely frozen. Penelope's mouth had formed a little 'o' shape. Jennifer's eyebrows had shot so far up, they were nearing her hairline. And Emily's eyes were so wide it looked as if she had been squeezed until they popped.

Rachel quickly glanced down at her appearance. She was wearing Spencer's pyjamas and during the night her braid had undone so her hair was a complete mess. Not to mention her jeans and shirt were lying on the floor by the couch where she had flung them last night. It certainly didn't look good.

It was Jennifer who finally spoke, the other two still looking too shocked to form words.

"Is Spencer up? He's not answering and we really need him at work," she explained, not meeting Rachel's eye.

It was then that Garcia snapped into reality.

"You're the bartender! From the other day. Oh my god! You and Reid? Wow I wonder why he never mentioned you.. Though you never did mention that you knew him when we met you! I'm so sorry if we're interrupting something-" She gushed so quickly that Rachel could barely keep up with what she was saying.

"No! No.. Trust me you weren't interrupting anything.. Seriously this isn't at all what it looks like.." she trailed off, feeling extremely awkward at the situation.

At this point all three of the agents were smirking.

"Uh-huh.. I'm sure," Penelope said sarcastically, grinning widely.

Rachel opened her mouth to argue but before she could a voice from behind her cut her off.

"Hey Rach who are you talking t-"

She spun quickly to see Spencer standing in the entrance to the living room, his eyes wide at the scene in front of him. His cheeks paled slightly as he glanced at each of the women's faces individually.

Rachel gave him a sympathetic look but couldn't help but grin at how simply adorable he looked. He was pouting ever so slightly as he had just woken up and his hair was sticking out at all angles and once again Rachel had the urge to run her hands through it.

"W-What's going on?" he asked after a small pause.

"We have a case. Hotch needs us all at the office. We tried calling you but you were obviously otherwise preoccupied," Emily answered, unable to contain her smirk.

Spencer's cheeks flushed red and Rachel couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Now that he was here looking much more awkward than she felt, she relaxed.

"I didn't - We didn't - I mean we were just -" he began rambling and the three women in the doorway laughed.

Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"No need to act so offended Spencer. You'd be lucky to have me!" she winked at him, before heading towards the kitchen. Honestly she was pretty hungry and she felt it was probably better off if she left the four of them to it.

Spencer watched in confusion as she left and then looked back to the three agents still in his doorway.

"Why haven't you told us about her? Did you tell Morgan yet? I gotta call him, he's not gonna believe this. How long have you two been together? You managed to keep it hidden very well.. I mean you'd think the others would have noticed something. They are profilers-" Penelope went off in a rant before she was cut off.

"C'mon Garcia, we should probably get going. He's obviously not quite ready to leave yet," Emily interrupted her.

"I really don't-"

"Just come in as soon as you can Spence, we've got a case," Jennifer added.

With that all three of the women walked off, leaving a confused and awkward feeling Spencer behind. He stood there for another thirty seconds, just thinking about they had said before sighing and closing the door. There was no way they were going to let him live this down. Morgan and Garcia in particular were sure to mock him constantly now.

He walked into the kitchen slowly where he found Rachel perched on the counter, her legs crossed, casually stirring a cup of tea she had freshly made. Her gaze was trained on her cup of tea and so he allowed his eyes to wander over her. She really was very pretty in the mornings, despite the fact that her hair was a bit messy and not to mention the pyjama bottoms were awfully long on her. However he couldn't help but like the image of her in his clothing.

When he met her eye he noticed she was watching him rather curiously. She was obviously unsure as to why he was staring at her. His cheeks flushed a little as her lips pulled into a smile.

"You okay?" she asked softly, pouring milk into her tea.

He nodded.

"Yeah, yeah.. I'm fine. I'm sorry about them by the way. They got the complete wrong idea. I would never - I mean you and I.. Ridiculous, really," he rambled on, looking away from her quickly, embarrassed.

Had he have met her eye, he would have noticed the disappointed expression, which she quickly covered up with a smile.

"Don't worry about it Spence, really. I don't mind," She replied softly.

He just nodded.

"You're gonna be taking the heat for this, hmm?" she questioned, a small smirk playing on her lips.

He felt his cheeks heat up a little.

"Yeah, I'll probably never hear the end of this. I love them, really but they tend to be a bit full on at times. They're kinda like the siblings I never had," he explained.

She grinned widely.

"Well, I'm sorry. It's kinda my fault anyways. I mean my clothes on the floor, my hair is all messed up and whatnot," she shrugged.

Once again, he nodded.

"Well I should probably go get ready for work. My boss isn't gonna be too happy if I'm late," he mumbled.

She took a small sip of her tea before giving him a small smile.

"Go on ahead Spence, I'm just gonna finish my tea and then head out" she answered.

"Yeah, see you in a while," he muttered before walking away hastily.

Once he was gone she sighed.

'I would never' were his exact words. She couldn't help but feel a little hurt by his words. Not that she had really thought much was going happen between them. He was a genius, he'd most likely want to be with someone who could actually keep up with him. As interesting as she found him, she rarely knew what he was talking about.

Running a hand through her hair she thought the situation through in her head. Really it made sense that he would never really consider her as anything more than a friend.

Though it made sense to her, she couldn't help the feeling of disappointment washing over as the realisation dawned that he'd never want anything more than friendship.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Surprisingly enough, no one said anything to Spencer about the awkward encounter that morning. That was, until they were on the jet. He had been completely avoiding eye contact with the three female agents, knowing they'd be wearing those smirks they had as they stood on his doorstep earlier.

It was only after they had fully discussed the case and Hotch had told everyone where to go that JJ met his eye. "So, this bartender. Is it serious?" she asked, a smug look on her face. Spencer felt his cheeks heat up considerably as he felt all eyes on the jet on him. Morgan's smirk was so big his face could hardly contain it. Garcia had obviously filled him in on what had happened.

"W-What?" he stuttered out. He had planned on an answer much more sophisticated but the idea of all of them, thinking of him and Rachel in that way had flustered him. Even Hotch had a small smile playing on his lips as he glanced down, doing his best to act like he wasn't paying them any attention.

"Is it serious?" JJ repeated.

There was an awkward silence as Spencer tried his best to put his words together but for once in his life they were jumbled, he found himself struggling to get out a sentence. "I - em - We - I have no idea what you're talking about, We're just friends" he explained. Funnily enough, no one seemed too convinced.

"Please kid, you've been acting really weird all week and then all of a sudden you sleep in late and some woman is answering your door wearing your pyjamas with her clothes lying on the floor" Morgan retorted effortlessly.

Spencer shrugged. "We're friends, she stayed the night so I gave her some pyjama's to wear," he replied.

"Then why are you blushing?" The voice of Penelope Garcia interrupted and everyone quickly turned to the laptop screen where the technical analyst had appeared.

"Well actually, blushing isn't always related with-" he began launching into an explanation but Garcia cut him off. "Okay honey, don't worry we'll head down to the bar and meet your girlfriend properly when you guys get back" she told him. "She's not my girlfri-" he attempted to interrupted.

"Okay so, there's good and there's bad news," Garcia continued, focusing back on the case, leaving Spencer still slightly flustered and feeling rather awkward.

 

 

"What's the emergency?" Bella rushed into Rachel's apartment, not stopping to knock the door, to find her curly haired friend on the couch eating cornflakes. She had received a text from Rachel only a few minutes ago, telling her it was a code red and had rushed to get here.

Annoyingly, Rachel took her time about swallowing the mouthful she had before answering Bella. "I have to tell you something," she told her, indicating for Bella to sit down on the couch with her. She did as Rachel told her, sitting down quickly.

"Well what is it then?" She demanded. It was safe to say she was not the most patient of people and she had rushed so much to get here that she was a little sweaty and she didn't like it.

It was only then that she realised Rachel's clothes were very familiar. They were the exact clothes she had been wearing the day before. Her eyes widened as realisation hit.

"Oh my god! You stayed at Spencer's last night didn't you?" she asked to which Rachel simply confirmed with a nod.

"I knew it! I knew there was more to it than you were letting on! So was that the first time you've spent the night together or-" she began rambling, clearly excited but Rachel quickly cut her off.

"Bells, we didn't sleep together. But that's actually kinda what I needed to talk to you about.." she admitted, before launching into exactly what had happened when Bella left the day before. All about how she had ended up at Spencer's place sleeping the night and about how the agents had turned up on the doorstep that morning.

"Oh wow, that must have looked pretty compromising.." Bella giggled, enjoying the story of her friends embarrassment.

It was then that Rachel hesitated slightly. The next part was what she wanted to talk to Bella about. She bit her lip, before letting out a sigh. She then told Bella what had happened after the agents left. How Spencer had said he would never be with her and that the idea of the two of them was simply ridiculous.

Bella watched her friend sympathetically.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that Rach, he was probably just really embarrassed" She offered, hoping to cheer her friend up.

Rachel shrugged one shoulder. "I don't really know exactly why it bothered me so much.. It really shouldn't have. I mean honestly what was I expecting? I know Spencer and I are friends but he deserves someone who understands what he's saying and can actually interest him. Realistically Bells, what use would I be to him?"

"Don't be stupid Rach. I mean yeah, Spencer's a freaking genius but you're plenty interesting. And I'm sure that Spencer knows that too. Really, I think you're thinking into this way too much. If it's really bothering you just bring it up next time you talk to him. It'll help clear everything up," she suggested.

Rachel thought the idea over for a minute. She certainly believed that when people had a problem the best way to deal with it was directly which in this case meant confronting Spencer about what he had said. But what if it didn't help? What if he got mad? Or perhaps her drawing attention to the fact that she wasn't good enough for him would cause him to stop being her friend all together.

She nearly face palmed when she realised how much she was over complicating things. She had never worried so much about something as stupid as a few passing words before. Why was she getting so hung up on it?

"Rachel?" Bella pulled her out of her train of thought by snapping in her face.

She blinked and then turned to face her, making her decision quickly.

"You know, I think that's a good idea Bella. Next time I see him, I'll mention it,"


	16. Chapter Sixteen

It was a difficult case for the team. So much so that they were gone for a total of five days. For Rachel, these five days were rather uneventful, with an occasional call lasting five minutes before he had to go or just a simple text good morning or good night from Spencer. She didn't mind though, she understood that his job was important and unpredictable. She just wished she had had a chance to talk to him properly before he took off.

For Spencer, those five days consisted of constant teasing from Morgan on his 'woman' or knowing glances and constant smirks from Emily and JJ. He felt his cheeks flush with each smug glance thrown his way. What was even more unfortunate was that the team landed back to Quantico on Wednesday.

Spencer had nothing against Wednesdays. However, it was the Wednesday the week before that Rachel had met JJ, Garcia and Emily the week before. This was how they knew she would definitely be working that night and so they were set on going to see her. Morgan wanted a chance to meet her and Garcia was desperate to question her fully on the relationship she and Reid had.

And so he was feeling particularly awkward when the plane landed Wednesday.

"You know, we really shouldn't be bothering her while she's working. It wouldn't be fair to her" he had argued as the team excitedly made plans on the jet home. "Oh please, she spent ages talking to us last week. I'm sure she won't mind" Emily replied. It wasn't long before he had just given up and decided to let what happened happen.

He had tried to call her but he couldn't get through so had given up on warning her as well. This was most certainly going to be an interesting night for everybody.

 

 

Rachel rushed into work, letting out a breath as she did. "Sorry I'm late, won't happen again" she lied as she ducked under the opening to the bar and slipped on her apron. Work began as usual, some regulars and many unknown faces. She was getting through work without much of a hitch until a familiar voice called her by name from the far end of the bar.

"Just a second," she called out, not bothering to check who it was. The voice was unfamiliar but it may have been from a previous customer she had been flirting with and had just forgotten about. She handed the drinks to the woman she was serving and then quickly headed off in the direction the voice had called her.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly when she saw exactly who she was walking towards. It was Spencer, yet not just him. The three women she had met last week were with him along with the man - Derek - who had been dancing last week and two other men - one looking rather stern and the other seemingly older than the other.

She couldn't resist smirking at the sheer look of panic on Spencer's face.

"Well hello, what can I get for you?" she asked the group in general, before meeting Spencer's eye. He gave her a weak smile which she returned with a wink.

"It's nice to finally meet you, pretty boy here's been acting rather strange lately and it's nice to meet the reason why. I'm Derek, Derek Morgan," the man who had been dancing last week, offered her his hand, a smug smile on his face.

She took his hand gladly.

"Rachel, Rachel Evans. Strange you say, strange how?" she asked, unable to resist glancing at Spencer. He flushed, a distinct tinge of pink colouring his cheeks.

"Rushing off after work, showing up late. Receiving unusual phone calls. Plus the kids been wearing this goofy grin every now and again at work and trust me gorgeous with our job there's not much to be smiling about," he explained.

"Oh stop, you're making me blush," she teased, glancing at Spencer. His blush had deepened extremely and he refused to meet her eye, which she found simply adorable.

Derek laughed heartily, impressed at the woman's light attitude.

"So what can I get you guys? I'd love to say it's on the house but my boss may actually fire me if I start giving out free drinks so..." she trailed off awkwardly, only to be met with laughs from the others.

They all made their drink orders and she bustled off quickly to make them, with the promise of returning. Before long she had given each of them their drinks, other than Penelope and Derek.

She returned to the other end of the bar to make them until she was interrupted by a quiet voice.

"Rach?" She looked up quickly to be met with Spencer, looking more than a little flushed. She smiled warmly at him, amused at the entire situation. His friends had clearly only come here to embarrass him and although they hadn't said much yet she knew the teasing was sure to come.

"What's up Spence?" She asked. He scratched his arm awkwardly, knowing his co-workers were watching him closely, observing his interaction with the woman they believed he was romantically involved with.

"I'm really sorry about this. About them.. I tried to stop them from coming but they wouldn't listen," he explained quickly, biting his lip softly after he spoke.

"It's okay. I really don't mind hun. They seem really nice," she replied easily, with a shrug.

"Besides," she added quickly. "It's been almost a week since I've seen your pretty face, Dr. Reid, I'm glad you're here."

He was unable to contain his smile at that and had to look down quickly as his cheeks heated up considerably.

"Thank you," he mumbled quietly, his voice soft.

At this point she had the final two drinks ready.

"I better bring these over, you coming?" She announced, picking up the two drinks. She walked back to Spencer's team members, laying the two drinks on the bar.

"Thank you darling, so exactly how long have you and Dr. Reid here been together?" Penelope asked sipping her drink.

Rachel raised an eyebrow as she met Spencer's eye, a smirk pulling at her lips.

"I - I tried to tell them we weren't together but they wouldn't listen to me I-" he began rambling, his cheeks flushing red.

She chuckled lightly.

"Spencer and I are just friends, you see. We met two weeks ago. Here, in fact," she explained to Penelope, a lot less awkward than he was about the assumption they were together.

"Uh huh, then how did you end up in pretty boy's apartment the other morning?" Derek interrupted, grinning widely.

Rachel shrugged.

"I was tired, I ended up sleeping on his couch," she replied casually.

The agents in front of her were dubious, exchanging knowing glances and smirks. She grinned slightly, rolling her eyes at them. However when she met Spencer's eye she felt instantly guilty. He looked so incredibly uncomfortable and she wasn't really doing much to help. He had made it clear to her that he only wanted be friends, it was clear he didn't like his friends making assumptions about their relationship. 

"Relax," she mouthed to him, sticking her tongue out at him briefly. He smiled in response, biting his lip as he did, making her eyes widen slightly. She found herself staring at his lips, wishing he was biting down on hers instead of his own.

She was a little shocked at the thought as it entered her mind. He had after all said that it would never happen between them, she was wasting her time daydreaming about his lips on hers.

She quickly shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thought.

"I'll be back in a minute. Customers to serve," she winked at the group before heading off in the opposite direction, knowing she had to serve more drinks.

As Rachel continued to serve the customers, Morgan nudged Reid in the ribs.

"Gotta hand it to you man, your girl's really something," he grinned as all the others nodded in agreement.

Spencer's cheeks flushed red. "Shes not my girl. Like I've told you and like she said, we're just friends," he replied softly.

"Oh please Reid, it's plain as day that that girl thinks of you as much more than a friend," Prentiss interjected quickly.

Spencer's blush deepened.

"Yeah, right," he mumbled sarcastically.

"C'mon Spence, didn't you see the way she was looking at you?" JJ added, smiling.

Spencer looked from one to another, wondering if they were just messing with him. Why would a girl like Rachel be interested in him? He was clumsy and awkward, far too excited over things such as Star Trek and Doctor Who. She was beautiful and funny, easily able to make conversation with anyone.

She could have anyone she wanted. She wouldn't want him, right?

"I really don't think so.. I mean I'm just me and she's so..." he trailed off, gazing over at Rachel as his blush deepened considerably. She was wiping the counter, smiling to herself ever so slightly. He couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face when he saw hers.

"So..?" Penelope asked, giggling at the grin on Spencer's face.

He cleared his throat before muttering out "She doesn't like me, she sees me as a friend and only a friend."

Morgan rolled his eyes.

"Pretty boy she's most definitely into you. When you bit down on that lip of yours I thought her eyes were gonna pop out of that pretty little head of hers," he chuckled.

Spencer couldn't help but grin, once again looking over at Rachel who was now talking to a customer, smiling as she did.

"Really?" He asked softly, unable to contain a smile.

Morgan grinned widely and nodded.

"Yes really, kid. You should definitely ask her out," he replied.

Spencer's eyes widened.

"Oh no I don't think that'd be a good idea," he said quickly to which JJ, Emily, Penelope and Derek all began to protest.

"Of course it's a good idea. Just ask her to go out for coffee or dinner or something, I guarantee she'll say yes," JJ smiled encouragingly.

"I - I -" he began stuttering but wasn't given a chance to say anything as Morgan and Garcia began shoving him towards the table Rachel was now wiping down.

Morgan, however pushed him a little too hard and he ended up falling into Rachel, his hands quickly taking hold of her waist to steady her.

She turned around quickly, prepared to give out to whoever had manhandled her. Her expression softened however when she realised it was Spencer.

"I'm sorry, I was just coming over and I tripped and sorry and I just - my hands are still on you I'm so sorry I-" he retracted his hands quickly as she cut him off giggling.

"It's okay Spence, what's up?" She asked, amused at how flustered he was.

"Well I - eh - just kinda wanted to ask you something and then I fell and made things awkward and I - sorry I'm rambling again aren't I?" He bit his lip, unsure of how to continue.

She smiled warmly, sensing his nervousness.

"What do you want to ask Spence?" She questioned softly.

He took a deep breath before gulping.

"Well..."


End file.
